Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Notes & Comment: Clowns to the left of me, etc.

This is America, America.

Here and there on the Web:

But it didn't say what we wanted it to say. A former member of the Obama administration claims Washington D.C. often used “misleading” news releases about climate data to influence public opinion. Former Energy Department Undersecretary Steven Koonin said that bureaucrats spun scientific data to manipulate public opinion. “What you saw coming out of the press releases about climate data, climate analysis, was, I’d say, misleading, sometimes just wrong.”

But we like each other. Ask a simple question: Where do journalists work? The national media really does work in a bubble, something that wasn’t true as recently as 2008. And the bubble is growing more extreme. Concentrated heavily along the coasts, the bubble is both geographic and political. If you’re a working journalist, odds aren’t just that you work in a pro-Clinton county—odds are that you reside in one of the nation’s most pro-Clinton counties.

Like father, like son.

But we're saving the planet. A study found that the Northeast (New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) is paying more for natural gas, losing tens of thousands of jobs and emitting more greenhouse gases than necessary thanks to “self-imposed” local “pipeline constraints.” The projected loss to the region by 2020 adds up to 78,400 jobs and nearly $7.6 billion in economic activity and “the displacement of $4.4 billion in labor income.” New York alone would see $1.6 billion less in state GDP and the loss of 17,400 jobs. Youch.

But it's entertaining. Bill Nye's hackery is showing again. Airing on his new Netflix special called Bill Nye Saves The World, the Not A Scientist Guy and hero of the Left, featured the world's most insane, anti-science segment about sexuality and gender performed by a sitcom actress, a profession, of course, filled with people famous for their extensive knowledge of biology. The performance by Crazy Ex-Girlfriend actress Rachel Bloom was given a glowing endorsement by Nye, who introduced the song(?) as "very special." Within the performance, Bloom suggests that sex and gender are on a "spectrum" and that her "sex junk" is "much more than either or," meaning it's non-binary. So. Much. Science.

But ... No. Just. Shut. Up. One of Britain’s royal princes has revealed to tens of millions of his closest and dearest friends and acquaintances, via an interview in a newspaper, that he found the period after the death of his mother difficult. He was widely praised for his openness when, of course, he should have been firmly reprehended for his emotional incontinence and exhibitionism. Alas, this kind of psychological kitsch is fashionable, with all kinds of princely personages—footballers, rock stars, actors, actresses, and the like—displaying their inner turmoil, much of which, unlike the actual prince’s, is self-inflicted. They parade that turmoil as beggars in some countries display their amputated stumps.